The intelligencer., 1887-10-29
LET US GATHER UP THE FRAG
MENTS THAT NOTHING
BE LOST"
CoLDwATER, KAs., Oct. 19, 1887.

CoLDwATER, KAs., Oct. 10, 1887.
EDITOR INTELLIGENCER: - We see
from the papers that the battle has been
fought, and the conflict for four years
is over. So while we are resting after
the war let us "Gather up the frag-
ments" and make practical use of them.
sLocal option" has decided against
prohibition in Lafayette county. We
are glad that it has so been settled. Our
regret is that the battle had to be
fought and our only fear now is, that
the fighting of it may be the worse tor
the cause of temperance.
To those in Lafayette county who
know me, who have known me from
my boyhood, it's useless tor me to tell
them that have always stood practical
ty temperance man, almost teeto-
taller. Yet, strange to many shallow
thinkers, to some deep-thinkers, to
many drinking prohibitionists, could
never believe in a prohibitory law. L
do not claim to be broader in my views
than many who differ from me; yet to
me, the narrOwness and fanaticism OF
many whom | love to admire for many
sterling qualities which they possess, is
seven years wonder.
| Recently in talking with an educated
prOhlbitionist he took the ground and
asserted openly in the presence of those
whom he knew to be.not Christians,
that ''if he could be made to believe
that Jesus of Nazareth made real wine,
i. e., wine with any intoxicating prin-
| ciple in it, when he worked the miracle
at the marriage feast in Cana of Cali
lee, he would from that time on be a
disbeliever in him as the Son of God j"
| l was really shocked by such an exhib-
ition of fanatical blindness. Now, this
man is a pro1essed Christian, he stands
connected with the same church organ
ization that l do. l think he means
well, but how horrible the thought, that
any poor, puerile, weak mortal, VINO
cannot look one moment into futurity,
who cannot tathom one thought in the
Divine mind, who knows not one jot
or one title of the Creators will or
acts save as He reveals them, who is a
mere point, a speck, an atom, should
so far forget his littleness and so fail to
realize the heighth the depth the length,
the breadth of the Divine Being, as
that he would make his opinion the
standard of the acts of Him "whO
spake as never man spake, "ot Him who
for 1900 years has commanded the
thought, the admiration and the homage
of sinner, sage, philosopher and states
man. If Jesus of Nazareth made wine,
then this mans judgment was, that lie
was a sinner. By like process of rea.
soning, if God gave man the physical
power to kill, steal, lie, in fact to CON-
NIT any horrible crime, then God
would be adjudged a murderer,a "a rogue.
a thief, liar or criminal of this
"baser sort" The trouble with this man
was not that he wished to think hard
of the Bible, but because he had failed
to learn Alright the principles underly-
ing Gods government of men. God
made Adam and Eve and gave them
the power of obeying or that of dis
obeying. If they disobeyed. they and
not God were to blame. He gave Cain,
through his ancestors, the power to be
truthful and peaceful. Cain also had
the same power, Through the same sources
of lying and numbering when he used
the faculties God had given him in a
wrong direction. But does this make
God not Divine, because man abused
these faculties2 By no means. Paul
the Apostle and Great Commentator on
the Divine law, has said in letters
which l wish were burned into the
memory of every man, that "every
created thing which God has made is
good, and nothing to be refused if it be
received with thanksgiving and pray
er." A correct understanding of this
thought of that wonderful man lets a
flood of Gospel light and liberty into
the darkened and confused mind of a
man. l do not believe in law for
this, and law for that, for the purpose
of 30 limiting the acts of men that they
cannot do wrong. l hold that the
theory Of government that demands
such legislation is radically wrong.
And l draw my opinion from a study
OF the dealings and legislation of the
Great Jehovah. who has given la,Us for
Jew and Gentle, bond and free, saint
and sinner.
The more barbarous and uncivilized
nation, the more the need tor social
laws. The more civilized and Chris.
tanned the nation, the less the law is
needed. 1.-The law was a schOolmastel
to bring us TO Christ" might prove
OF great benefit to many modern reform
| ers now.
| Now for our conclusion. We think
to promote temperance, and we are a
temperance man, let the lather and
the mother, let the preacher and the
teacher, teach the child, the woman the
man, that drunkenness, like murder,
theft, adultery and lying is opposed
to all good government, good society,
good morals, and moreover, is abhor.
rent to the Divine will and opposed to
mans best interests, here and hereafter.
For one, do earnestly beseech those
who desire SO much law, to distinguish
between crime and the instruments by
which crime is committed.
| For one l would live on bread and
water before l would be found selling
whisky to my neighbor or my neigh
bor's children, that they might be led
to drunkard's grave. While l would
not hate the saloon keeper, l should
certainly hate his business And here
is where so many are confused on the
subject of the sale of whisky, and
hence seize upon prohibition as the
remedy. Teach, teach, teach. leach,
until principle is formed aOithin, 4 E.. ,
in the souls of men that will enable
them, as men, seizing hold upon the
human and Divine aid given them by
both their Godhood aud manhood to
resist as they would the spirit that
tempts to murder and steal, the spirit
that would lead them to the drunkard's
lite. By Thus doing forgetting the fact
save as it may be necessary to resort to
il in order that we may learn lessons
of profit by becoming temperate in our
methods and in our speeches, remem
bering that honest and good men may
and often do differ, laying hold on
those means, those of Divine and hu-
man experience that none can fairly
meet, that of enlightening the mind
and if you please the spirit we may
all $50 gather up the fragments" aitel
the battle, that nothing need be lost.
Very truly, WM. Fl. CARTER.